All Along
by Saffronica612
Summary: Only in hindsight did he realize...only looking back did she realize...the stupidist, funniest, most ironic, most heartbreaking thing-they had been in love-and in denial-all along. Megamind/Roxanne
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I own neither the characters nor the setting—absolutely nothing at all. I only bring forth my own meager talents in shaping words, and I make no profit but the critiques you give me.

All Along

Part 1: Megamind

The first time he met Roxanne Ritchi, it was completely by accident. She was new on the job, giving MetroMan his first big interview, and he had this amazing plan to fly through on his motorcycle of death-and-doom-that-had-major-lasers-mounted-on-the-side-and-grenade-launchers-and—

Well, anyways, it was exceedingly cool and evil and intimidating, but he didn't calculate the fact that putting a giant laser of the left wing _combined_ with the weight of his Minion manning—or, well, fishing it, his stabilizers just couldn't compensate. Suddenly, his devilishly genius plan to kidnap his rival turned into a failing devilishly genius plan and a certain screaming reporter beating her fists on his back.

MetroMan flew after him, and they had a glorious chase through the streets of the city, and he _almost_ escaped—one of his closer victories, and although it ended with him behind bars, he learned one very important thing: MetroMan would come after him if he kidnapped Roxanne Ritchi. Besides, it was a lot easier on his part to kidnap a perfectly helpless, innocent woman…

Alright, the 'helpless, innocent' part kind of turned out to be a bit of an exaggeration. He discovered that the second time he kidnapped her, and Minion felt bad for her so he didn't tie her up well enough…let's just say that day ended with him back in jail, handbag-shaped bruises all over his body, and MetroMan didn't even have to lift a finger. That was one of his more embarrassing days. Still, he would never give up, and he began to master the fine art of kidnapping and threatening Roxanne Ritchi.

He began to find that he looked forward to exchanging banter with her…somehow, she was just as witty as MetroMan except a bit less…cheesy. She was a touch more realistic. It helped that he was always in the position to lord over her, and her hands were always secured behind her back with _tight_ manacles. Besides, whatever she might say when MetroMan came to rescue her, he would always have the last laugh, when he kidnapped her again. She was, he decided, an intellectual equal.

Somewhere along the line, all the torture devices and killing machines became a formality, just for show. She was far too smart, too good company, to drill her brains out. Besides, he had MetroMan to try to kill with his dastardly inventions, like that new Death Ray he had been working on (the full concentrated power of the sun!) and he never had to worry about MetroMan. His adversary was completely indestructible, which gave him the rare advantage of complete freedom in testing any sort of killing machine on him.

Like right now.

He snuck a glance behind his shoulder. She started making a strange groaning noise—was it the spray again? He had revised the formula of the sleepy-time spray to make it work—and smell—better, and added some perfume to it. Rose, which happened to be her favorite, it one was to judge by the loving expression she looked up at MetroMan with when he gave her a bouquet last week. He would pay for that…

She groaned, shaking her head again.

"Quick, Minion, she's awake! To work!" He leapt to his chair, smoothing out his eyebrows, grabbing one of the Brain Bots, and tried to force his hands to stop trembling with excitement. Kidnapping Roxanne Ritchi was the best part of his day, by far.

"Would it kill you to wash the bag?" He grimaced as she went on murmuring something about smelling like coffee. He had just sent it to the dry cleaners—it was the finest linen bag that (stolen) money could buy. No, obviously something had gone wrong with the spray. He had a sinking feeling that he hadn't been dumping in rose perfume, and his cheeks colored. It wasn't _his_ fault that Minion put the 'essence of coffee' right next to the 'rose essential oil' in the scents cupboard.

Back in the game, he told himself. She can't resist your devilishly handsome face.

"So, Miss Ritchi, we meet again." He gave her his best evil grin.

"Yeah." She didn't look exactly amused. "It's you again."

"You can scream all you wish, but no one will _hear_ you!" She wasn't screaming. He even asked Minion why, and everything sort of went downhill from there. Downhill just like an amazing sled ride, flying over the snow, full of plenty of bumps and flying surprises.

She wasn't impressed by any of his fake evil devices, not that he expected her to be, since he rarely bothered to change them up now. The BrainBots kept biting him—he really would have to look into that new vegetarian pet food that everyone was raving about.

Then everything actually started going according to plan, which was when it all started going wrong. She fell for the fake observatory he built around them. MetroMan's weakness just happened to be copper—how did he buy stuff that was 4 cents then?—and his death ray worked.

He would never forget the look on her face as they both stared at the skeleton of the man that they both loved—although neither would admit it. He would never forget the accusing tone that she threw that question at him, "What are you going to do with us?" Suddenly he forgot his speech about what an evil, evil overlord he would be and all sorts of vaguely evil things he would do, not to mention declaring a National Chocolate Day, and National Cupcake Day, a National Cookie Day, then the week long celebration of Megamind Holiday. He looked at her and thought of all the great plans he had for her—he would give her interviews, make her report stories on the changes he'd make, get her advertising his slave army. She would make a good commander, if she were ever interested in the job. Because she was smart enough, although she didn't listen to orders well. He had made her what she was, she only became such a good reporter because he kept kidnapping her! So why was she standing there staring at him like that?

He realized he had been standing around awkwardly, and cleared his throat. "Um, imagine the evilest thing possible, and multiply it by six!" he declared. No one looked particularly scared. "Look, people, let's just take it easy here, we'll play it by ear…" He trailed off, a delicate pink blush rising on his blue cheeks. Only Roxanne could embarrass him like this, and when he had just conquered the city, too! He stormed inside.

But nothing was fun anymore. Without someone to check him, without someone to stop him, there was no point to life. He missed witty banter and he missed losing and he missed Roxanne glaring at him—she was always cutest when she was angry. Now she just looked depressed on television. He pressed his nose closer to the screen. Watching her seemed to give him the only form of solace now adays. She looked, well, just as depressed as he felt.

"Do you want to kidnap Roxanne tomorrow? That always used to cheer you up!"

Even Minion could tell how obsessed this stupid girl was making him. But kidnapping her would do no good, not when no one was coming to rescue her. What would he say when she asked why?

Then, when she nearly caught him at the MetroMan Museum—he had never been more nervous in his life. Hiding as Bernard—it didn't so much feel like hiding, because he could be himself around her. He didn't have to put on the mask of evil overlord for her.

Then, after he helped raid his own lair—the strangest feeling in the world, although he was quite proud of her, she really did have an intellect and courage and even perhaps good looks to rival his own—then she hugged him and called him partner.

He was doomed from that moment onward. He would have leapt off a cliff for her, if she had only mentioned she wanted to go bungee jumping.

They told each other stories, they biked, they went on picnics. He cleaned up the city for her. He replaced everything he had stolen, just so he could take her to the museum. Often, their little get-togethers went by in a blur, but he would replay every little moment in his head, refusing to forget anything that she said or did, because he knew each moment was precious.

He was falling in love, and he knew it would break his heart in the end, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to feel her arms around him, to see her smile light up her face, to hear her laughter. Once, he had thought she was cutest when she was angry. He was wrong. She was cutest when she was laughing. But he did know one thing—he had loved her all along.

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This is a two-part story. Next half focuses on Roxanne. Review, plz.


	2. Chapter 2

All Along

Part 2: Roxanne

Did she ever get tired of being kidnapped? Yes. But did she hate being kidnapped?

Well, the first time was absolutely horrible. Her first day on the job, and she went from trying not to swoon over MetroMan to nearly gagging at his cliché answers to any of the carefully thought-out questions she posed, then suddenly she was flying through the room and blue and black leather had grabbed her. At first she thought it was the studio guys, either playing a really, really nasty trick on her, or just trying to up their show's ratings. Then, she saw the giant fish in a robot gorilla body screaming as the laser he sat at swung from side to side.

"I don't believe this," she groaned. That was about when the screaming stared. It wasn't that she thought this skinny blue alien would hurt her, no, but she could just see him crashing into a cliff or the engines failing or his stupid machine blowing up and they were all going to die—

Then suddenly MetroMan's arms were around her and the air went blessedly still. He set her down back at the studio and she thanked him, then wobbled off to the bathroom to empty her stomach.

She prepared herself for the next time, attending women's defense classes, talking about MetroMan as much as possible on the air, even convincing him to come in for a second interview. The day of the interview, she loitered in the back alley alone, and sure enough, someone tried to grab her and drag her away. The gorilla-fish-thingy. She hung limp, letting it take her to the car, and her plan worked—it kept apologizing and didn't even tie her up properly. As soon as the blue idiot was within hitting distance, she wiggled out of its grasp and went haywire with the only weapon on hand, her purse. Everybody got quite wacked up, and by the time MetroMan came, she had already saved the day.

They resorted to knock-out spray and tight-fitting metal handcuffs after that one. Her kidnappings became so regular, any time any MetroMan even would happen, or, she began to suspect, if Megamind started to get _bored_, he would go out and kidnap her.

She couldn't exactly complain—as annoying as it was to be kidnapped again and again, her fans seemed to enjoy the spectacle. MetroMan started calling her by name—in fact, she might have been the only citizen of Metro City whom he would call by name. It kept her on her toes, too—many a tiring day at the studio would brighten up after a few minutes of exchanging insults with the blue self-proclaimed evil genius. Although she began to question the 'evil' part—he treated it like it was one big game for him, and it got hard not to play along.

Like the time he used her as bait and battled MetroMan while a laser got closer and closer to decapitating her. He actually managed to pin MetroMan down, and the red beam slid across her throat, but nothing happened. It was a fake. She wasn't sure if he was just too squeamish to kill her, or if he actually started to like her company. If she didn't know better, it seemed like he was always trying to impress her. But that would never be right, because she was just a prop in his perfect little play that he kept repeating, more ridiculous each time, and besides, she was supposed to be dating MetroMan. The _good_ guy always got the girl.

But what if Megamind was the good guy?

Don't be an idiot, she told herself. He keeps trying to destroy and take over the city. But she had done her research, looked into his childhood, and she couldn't help but feel bad for him. Besides, he had never actually hurt anyone. Sometimes, she thought he was like a lost soul, with no idea what to do, how to act, who had been rejected so many times that he had internalized everything and…

She cut off that train of thought. It was one thing to be growing fond of their frequent encounters, forgivable—after all they were exciting, they spiced up her life—she was even allowed to start to like Minion, who was adorable and funny and loyal. But to start to like _him_, that was unforgivable. That was losing, that was completely not fair to MetroMan and to the city and to the way the universe was supposed to work.

She allowed herself different ways to express this. She indulged in his banter, she tired to figure out everything she could about him, she took pride in the biting little comments she could use to get him all worked up (Trite! Cliché! Unoriginal! _Boo_-ring!). She kept herself wound up so tightly everywhere else, but with him, she could actually, sort of, well, be herself.

Then suddenly MetroMan died, and everything was ruined. He had a city to rule, and he had no idea how to do it, and he just started making a mess out of things. With MetroMan gone, she was nobody's love interest, and there was no reason to worry about her, no reason to kidnap her. Everything that had been good in her life had died, and she hated Megamind with a passion for taking that away.

Then Bernard had come. Quiet, uncaring Bernard had suddenly become animated, and talking to him was almost like talking to Megamind again, except they were allowed to agree, and Bernard was normal, and she could like Bernard and he could like her and it wouldn't matter. Suddenly, everything is Metro City didn't seem so hopeless, and for the first time in months, she laughed.

She was head over heels for this guy.

Then, in Megamind's lair—he had stood up to the slimy little alien! He had saved her life! He was everything she had ever dreamed of, and more. He was a real hero, not one in white tights, but a real person, with real courage, and real determination, who might actually perhaps like her a bit?

Then weirdly, like a dream come true again, the city cleaned up. Paintings appeared back at their places in the museum. Megamind returned the money to the banks, and the city began functioning again.

"Who tamed the beast?" she asked. He had seemed sort of normal—well, as normal as he ever was—when she and Bernard has stormed his lair. Well, actually, he had been acting a bit weirdly, fighting with Bernard, and he had seemed a bit…strange. Nervous. Like he actually had something to lose. She bit her lip. "This is Roxanne Ritchi, cautiously optimistic, reporting from Metro City."

_Cautiously_ optimistic. Because she had her journalist intuition, and she could tell that something was wrong. There was some connection that she wasn't seeing, and it was going to come back and bite her. She could just feel it.

She almost felt better when she discovered Titan, who happened to be her slightly creepy stalker cameraman, who now suddenly thought they were dating. For goodness sake, she would rather date Megamind! At least he had the courtesy to know when he was being rejected, and trade witty banter, and knock her out before proceeding to fly through the city at breakneck speed. At least he could take a hint! And he had, in his own twisted way, some semblance of morals, of honor, this code he lived his life by. Hal…she shivered. What he wanted, he took, and now that he had this power…

Still, she felt better. Her life was out of wack again, and it felt familiar. Actually, it felt great. She and Bernard could deal with it together, and it made him feel like less of a dream.

They were drinking, they were laughing, she was confessing more of her inner feelings that she had ever shown anyone before, then suddenly they were kissing.

Then she leaned back and looked at him, his blue face, his goatee. His big green eyes, gazing into hers. It had been Megamind all along, and really, she had known all along. Bernard being there the entire time at the lair, and how he kept acting weirdly? The city cleaning up, the museums, the banks, after she had told Bernard how upset seeing her precious city in ruins made her? The witty banter that challenged her mind and made her laugh?

The surprised, delighted look that lit up her face when she had hugged him, like it was the first time anyone had hugged him?

She couldn't stand the idea, couldn't stand what it meant, so she went running of into the rain.

"Wait! Roxanne! I can explain!"

"Explain what? Are you really that _evil_? It wasn't enough to kill MetroMan and destroy the city, but you actually made me care about you, too? Why?" Her heart was so broken that she didn't care she was admitting that she cared.

Then she saw the look on his face, and she realized that maybe it wasn't so unrequited after all. "Did you really ever think we could be together?" she whispered, half to herself.

His face fell. "No." The rest of the sentence was unspoken—but it didn't matter, because every second with you was precious enough to make the rest of my lonely life worth it.

Suddenly, she felt very, very tired, and very, very alone. She walked away, but she looked back, already regretting what she said. She loved the Megamind underneath but she hated the idea of him, but no, this was for the best, so she forced herself to keep on walking.

She couldn't repress the excitement, the hope that rose when he showed up at her apartment the next day. And when he risked his life to save her from Titan, or Tighten, rather, she realized the truth: she had been fond of him from the very beginning. She could never had admitted it, but if she really paused, took the time, thought about it, she had loved him all along.

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Thank you for all your reviews. I much appreciate the feedback.


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